Managing Blood Sugar for Your Best Hormone Health | Ep. 56

Understanding how to eat and move in a way that supports stable blood sugar levels--this is essential. These principles are so important for many aspects of health in addition to menstrual cycle health! Join me to learn about why this is important and what you can start doing to avoid glucose spikes. 

Referenced in episode:
- @glucosegoddess on Instagram or www.glucosegoddess.com for more information on glucose control

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Chapters

• 0:05 Blood Sugar Regulation for Hormone Health
• 5:21 The Importance of Blood Sugar Regulation
• 14:35 Optimizing Blood Sugar for Health

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Welcome to I'm Hormonal, your source of information about women's hormone health and how to support your body. Naturally, I'm your host, bridget Walton, and I'm a certified functional hormone specialist and menstrual cycle coach. I am on a mission to hold these hormone conversations with as many menstruators as possible, because you deserve easier access to accurate information about what's up with your unruly menstrual cycle and with your fertility mysteries. Don't you think it's time that we figure this out once and for all? Hey there, and welcome to episode 56 of I'm Hormonal. It has been a great journey so far and I'm really excited to share with you some information today about blood sugar regulation. If you have been here before, then welcome back, but if you've been here before, you have heard me talk about how important blood sugar regulation is for your hormone health. Important blood sugar regulation is for your hormone health, and I wanted to dive a bit deeper into that today, so this is something that is going to be really good for, honestly, all humans. This seems like something that a lot of people could, that there's room for improvement on, basically, but especially if you are somebody who's trying to understand, trying to troubleshoot what's going on with your irregular cycles, with your unpredictable periods, your missing periods, then I think this is a really great foundational area where you can start making some tweaks and changes. We will go ahead and get into all of that in just a second here, but I want to come back to the start here and say welcome back If you've been here before. Thanks so much for hanging with me. I know you have a lot of different options for podcasts that you can listen to, so I really appreciate you listening and connecting with me on Instagram and sending me your questions. So thank you, thank you, thank you. If this is your first time listening to the podcast, then one big welcome to you.

Speaker 1: 2:24

My name is Bridget and I. We all know about hormone health, about how to support our bodies, how to understand what our bodies are trying to tell us, and that's what I'm trying to do around here. So you're part of that solution, part of that conversation, part of that conversation. I called the podcast I'm Hormonal because I mean you don't need me to tell you that there is somewhat of a stigma around being hormonal, but being hormonal is just being human. That's the only way about it. There's nothing to be ashamed of there. So I'm hormonal and I'm proud of it An update for you.

Speaker 1: 3:05

So today is the normal like normal form length of podcast episode, but I've started to record mini episodes that will come out generally on the Thursday after this normal I guess now long form episode. The reason that I wanted to make these minis for you is so that you have something that is just a bit more bite-sized, a bit more digestible, either to come back to after you've listened to the main episode, just as a refresher, as a reminder, or, if you are really crunched for time, you want to just get right to the point. Then you'll have those mini episodes which, as you have probably assumed, will be quite a bit shorter than the normal form episodes. So I hope you enjoy those and I'm really open to whatever feedback that you have about the minis. As always, the information that I share with you here is for educational purposes only. It should not be used as a replacement for medical diagnosis or advice. Right, I'm a hormone coach, but I'm not your hormone coach and I don't know your specific situation. But, that being said, if you are looking for one-on-one support, then do take me up on my offer for a free consult call and you can find that link in the show notes.

Speaker 1: 4:33

Now, with all of that out of the way, let's pivot and refocus on blood sugar regulation, what you can do to support stable blood sugar levels, and why this is important. The first thing that I want you to know about blood sugar regulation is that there are so many ways that you can start, so many ways you can do this. There is no one right answer and I say that because it can sound a little daunting maybe to some people like how do I regulate my blood sugar? Like what does this even mean? But there are a lot of. I'm going to wrap up the episode today with some good, bite-sized tips for what you can do to make it really practical and really actionable for you.

Speaker 1: 5:21

Now let's talk about why this is important overall. So our bodies are designed to have blood sugar that goes up as we take in nutrients from our foods, as we take in glucose, and it gets disseminated through our body to our cells. Then insulin is the hormone that helps get that glucose actually into the cells. So this is a normal, natural process and that's not the bad thing. The thing that can be not so great for our bodies is when we have these big spikes in blood sugar. So when we are consuming something that is really high in sugar, really high in carbs, namely processed foods, or some processed foods, right Sweet treats that are oftentimes loaded with added sugars, that's what we want to focus on and what we want to dial in, because when we have those blood sugar spikes, the spikes themselves can cause chaos with your mitochondria. You probably remember from ninth grade biology that mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cells, so that's overall not great for the health of your mitochondria, which is really important. Additionally, when we have these high blood sugar spikes, naturally our body will be releasing more insulin than it otherwise would.

Speaker 1: 6:52

Now we need insulin, but when we have too much of it, these insulin, or this excess insulin, really is encouraging that storage in your liver, in your muscles and in your fat tissue. Now we need some fat on our bodies for sure, especially menstruators, but of course, when there are elevated levels of adipose tissue, of fat tissue, and insulin is what's behind that storage, that'll be something you want to A be aware of. B focus on. So let's look at this in terms of how does blood sugar regulation? What does this do for your cycle Like? Why is this important for hormonal health? Now, when blood sugar levels are out of whack and again by that I really mean when there are big glucose spikes, which means a big insulin spike what that can do is be a source of stress and inflammation for your body. So it's. You don't need me to tell you twice that we don't need more stress or more inflammation, that we don't need more stress or more inflammation. But in addition, when insulin levels go up, so to do cortisol levels? Cortisol is our stress hormone. So that's kind of where that link lies.

Speaker 1: 8:21

Now let's quick, touchly on. What does stress mean for our cycle? When stress levels are high, that's going to cloud our hormones communication pathways. That's going to send signals to our brain that, hey, it's not a good time to procreate. So why don't we just shut down this whole ovulation thing for a hot second? We'll get back to this later, when things seem safer. For a hot second. We'll get back to this later, when things seem safer. And of course, it's normal once in a while to have a cycle where we do not ovulate. But that's not the dream. There's a lot of good benefits of ovulating from the estrogen and from the progesterone that results from ovulation. Of course, if you're somebody who wants to conceive, then you know the importance of ovulating too, so you can procreate.

Speaker 1: 9:11

All right, let's come back to some of the symptoms of dysregulated blood sugar levels. Or actually, let me pose it to you this way let's look at what are the benefits of supporting your blood sugar and stabilizing it. Now, if you're balancing your glucose, that can help to reduce cravings right. Are you somebody with sugar cravings? It can help address constant hunger. Do you feel like you get hungry immediately after you eat a meal? You're like why am I hungry already? So maybe that's because your blood sugar is spiking and then dropping. Right when our blood sugar drops, our body says, hey, girl, we need to eat some more. Now. What else? It can help address fatigue, brain fog.

Speaker 1: 10:00

Of course, hormonal and fertility issues We'll get into that a little bit more. Of course, hormonal and fertility issues we'll get into that a little bit more. You can also see some impact, some benefit to skin conditions, wrinkles. You can see changes in your quality of sleep. Mental health can support your immune system and also can be helpful when it comes to perimenopause and menopause symptoms. Now let's focus more on what's going on with your hormones and fertility issues.

Speaker 1: 10:32

Also want to mention really quick that when I say fertility issues, of course my message here is for those of you who have menstrual cycles, but this can also be really important for your partners and what is going on with their sperm and their fertility and motility. So this isn't just for you. This would be a good conversation to have with your boo so that you can make sure everything on his side is in good shape as well. So I pulled up one study that mentions Let me see here, let me find it Okay. It says it is possible to suggest that combining insulin sensitizing agent therapy with an improved lifestyle may greatly support women with PCOS and improve their pregnancy outcomes. In addition, exercise and diet have been reported to improve insulin resistance and reproductive performance. Some are of the opinion that PCOS is one of the primary symptoms of lifestyle diseases among women.

Speaker 1: 11:38

Now, this blurb that I just read to you is, as you noticed, specific to PCOS polycystic ovary syndrome but I'm going to extrapolate here for a second, because sometimes what's going on with PCOS, even if you don't have a PCOS diagnosis, the trend can be similar. Right, insulin levels are high, blood sugar levels are high. That's going to impact ovulation. So for the purposes of this conversation. We'll look at blood sugar regulation in the same way. Now let's talk about what you can do. How do we actually address this, bridget? We're 12 minutes in. What do we do to support blood sugar levels?

Speaker 1: 12:19

Now I'm going to rattle off a couple of maybe more obvious things that you've already gathered from what I mentioned in the intro. But really being aware of and minimizing your intake of added sugars is going to be a solid first step, so that'll be a great place to start. If you aren't somebody who looks at your food labels not that you need to go crazy about this or certainly if you have a history of disordered eating, then let's skip this one. But just becoming aware of how much added sugar is in what you are eating, right Classic would be Gatorade. Gatorade was kind of marketed to us or at least when I was younger as a health drink, but there's so much sugar in it. So and I'm not trying to dunk on Gatorade, but you see what I'm getting at Just becoming aware of what's on the label, what is the amount of added sugar.

Speaker 1: 13:18

Now let's talk about a couple of other specifics, since I guess I didn't really rattle anything off for you. But here are my three recommendations for what you can start doing more or less right away. First would be focusing on a savory breakfast. So trying to get in a breakfast where you have at least 30 grams of protein is ideal. If you're somebody who isn't currently eating a lot of protein, then maybe just start off with 20, start off with whatever seems reasonable for you. I would really encourage you to plan ahead. Don't just be like, ah, yeah, okay, well, I'll just do that tomorrow, but actually sit down, make a plan for what you're going to eat. Start up a conversation with your boy, chat GPT, and say hey, what are some breakfasts that take 15 minutes or less where I can get 20 grams of protein or whatever is your situation? It's actually so great because you can just say hey, I have pickles, eggs, chia seeds, turkey or whatever you have in your fridge. I want to spend 15 minutes or less cooking and I hate olives. So what are some other things? What are some meal options that they can recommend for you? They, again, being ChatGPT, love it.

Speaker 1: 14:35

If you want a little bit of inspiration right now, some options that come to me top of mind would be a Greek yogurt bowl. So Greek yogurt has relatively high protein. Add some chia seeds to that bad boy. Add some nut butter. Maybe you can add some hemp seeds I mean, seeds are really where it's at Big fan of seeds here. You could also go a more classic route with a couple of eggs, avocado toast and turkey slices. Maybe trade out the turkey slices for cottage cheese. Another option I'll just put in your ear would be a protein smoothie. If you're on the go in the morning, this could be a good one, easy one, using some protein powder to get those numbers up, but making sure that this smoothie as a whole is a savory one again. More so than sweet because of everything I've mentioned up to this point. More so than sweet because of everything I've mentioned up to this point. So focus on that kind of breakfast and that will be a super kick-ass first step for you.

Speaker 1: 15:38

The second thing I want you to do is focus on eating vegetables first in your meal, whatever your meal is. You sit down to lunch. You look at what you've got in front of you. Where's the vegetable? How can you eat that first? You sit down to dinner. You're like okay, we're having spaghetti. Well, I need a vegetable first. Can you make a little salad? Can you make some broccoli? Can you make you know? Just thinking, how can I make sure to be getting in a vegetable first, and why is that important? It's really helpful for your blood sugar to have the vegetable first, because getting that fiber in right Plants are pretty fiber forward, some more than others, but getting that fiber from the plants will slow down your overall absorption of the remaining glucose into your cells. So veggies first.

Speaker 1: 16:35

Third, what I want you to do is start going for a little walk. Bring your kiddo, bring your partner, ask your neighbor to go for a walk if you're feeling really crazy, but after maybe your most carb heavy meal of the day, or maybe it's just after dinner, because that's what works for your schedule. It's whatever you can make work. Go for a walk five, 10 minutes. What you're doing here is actually using your muscles. You know, not rocket science, but you're actually using your muscles to absorb that glucose and so just getting it out of your circulatory system into your cells and ideally, less need for insulin then, because you are absorbing it as it's designed to be used. If you're somebody who sits at a desk, then maybe you want to do some calf raises underneath the desk once you get back from lunch. There's no wrong way to do these things, but I would say as a rule of thumb for the movement piece, try to get that movement in within 90 minutes or so of your meal, for like the best impact on your blood sugar.

Speaker 1: 17:46

Now I want to talk about a couple of things that you might think are healthy but could be negatively impacting your blood sugar. The first thing that comes to mind in that I hear from a lot, a lot, a lot of clients is doing a fasted workout in the morning. So maybe you get up, you head to the gym. You're like, let's do this. I'm not going to eat anything beforehand because I want to burn a bunch of fat Now.

Speaker 1: 18:12

While, yes, that can work for some people, if you are somebody who has some type of hormone imbalance, you're trying to get things back on track because your period is gone or unpredictable. I would encourage you, for this period of time, until you get things in order, start eating before you go to the gym. Now, why is that? Well, if you do have some irregularities with your blood sugar and you go to the gym, you work out, that could be sending more stress signals to your body instead of it being like the healthy kind of workout. Hopefully that makes sense right, because you know that moving your body. Exercising is good for you, is very important. After a certain point, though, if your body needs rest, that's where it can become too much, too exhausting and, overall, increase those stress levels. Now, when your stress levels are high, that can further exacerbate the troubles with your blood sugar. So you're getting on this hamster wheel that's going to dooms town essentially. So if you are trying to get your hormones back in balance, I would really encourage you to avoid doing fasted workouts and eat something that is protein and fat forward. It doesn't have to be your full breakfast if that's too much for you at 5 am, but maybe just having, maybe hard boil, a couple eggs at the beginning of the week, and then you can just pull from your boiled egg reservoir and just get out the door and go.

Speaker 1: 19:54

The second thing I want to mention here about things you might think are healthy but could be impacting your blood sugar adversely would be avoiding including a fat in your meal. So this conversation seems to be reversing in the last handful of years, which is great, but including fats in your diet is really important If you are somebody who's trying to lose fat, you still need fat in your diet. So avocado is a really good option. That's probably the most common one that people talk about. But thinking of, how can you include avocado, how can you include butter on your vegetables which is also good, because when it comes to our fat-soluble vitamins vitamins A, d, e and K you're going to want some fat in your meal to help better absorb those nutrients. So fat is totally a staple. This isn't the 90s anymore. Hopefully you trust that these sources of fat are good for you. And also, last note here fat, and cholesterol specifically, is enormously important for building your hormones. So we need cholesterol in order to produce our sex hormones. So don't sleep on the fats. In order to produce our sex hormones, so don't sleep on the fats.

Speaker 1: 21:19

The third and final thing that I want to mention to you about what you might think is healthy but it could be harming your blood sugar would be eating the same way all month long, meaning all cycle long. Now, if you have something that works for you, you go, girl. I don't want to tell you to switch it up. If you know, don't fix it if it's not broken, but if you notice that you're not feeling your best, if you notice that something's wrong with your cycle, then you need to or I would encourage you to adjust the way that you eat, adjust the amount that you eat depending on where you're at in your cycle. Let's make this a little bit more salient. So in the second half of your cycle that would be between ovulation and when your next period begins, because estrogen is lower for most of that half you will be more, or rather you will be less, sensitive to insulin. You will be more, or rather you will be less, sensitive to insulin, and so that means you want to be even more careful about everything we're talking about today about avoiding those sugary added sugars, about being careful to move your body and avoid glucose spikes, because your body, during that second half of your cycle, will basically require more insulin to get the same job done as it did before.

Speaker 1: 22:42

So opt for complex carbs like potatoes, like quinoa, like brown rice, in order to get that same energy. Of course, you still need carbs. Carbs are friends. I mean fat, protein and carbs, all three of these macronutrients. They're all our friends. Let's not ignore any one of them. Just to be clear on that.

Speaker 1: 23:07

If you're looking for another resource on blood sugar regulation, why this is so important, then I always like to recommend Glucose Goddess. You can check her out on Instagram or you can go to her website. She has books. I've learned a lot from her myself. You guessed it. She focuses on glucose and everything blood sugar regulation related. So I'm taking a peek at her page now and I'll just mention a couple of the benefits that she mentions from flattening your glucose curve, and I know that I mentioned some of these before, but here we go again, just to really, just to really hammer in the point. She says the benefits of flattening our glucose curves include less hunger and fewer cravings, better energy and sleep, fewer gestational diabetes complications, fewer menopause symptoms, better brain function and clearer skin, better mental health, better gut health which side note gut health is so important for your hormone health health. She mentions improved fertility, fewer PCOS symptoms and type 2 diabetes remission. So blood sugar regulation is something that's important for you, it's important for your family, it's important for your kiddos, it's important for your parents. This is something we can all get better at through some of these practices that I mentioned earlier of moving your body after meals, of starting off with a savory breakfast, focusing on eating veggies first, just kind of eating your food in the right order or saving the carb for last as best as you can.

Speaker 1: 24:52

One other honorable mention that I want to include here would be incorporating apple cider vinegar into your day. So whether you have two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar diluted in water before a meal, or you want to be crazy and just take a little shot of apple cider vinegar, maybe you're going to get creative and make a mocktail with apple cider vinegar in it. That's also a good way to help your cells really absorb the glucose and limit the spike. I'm optimistic that if you put in place some of these practices, you will notice a difference in the way that you feel, probably the same day, but surely within a week. When I work on this with clients by the next session they always come back to me and say hey, I feel so much better, I don't feel so tired after my lunch. I feel like I have the energy to get through my day. It might take you a minute to get some of these practices into place, and that's totally okay, but just know that this is one of the parts of health that you can see results on relatively quickly and hopefully that encourages you to just keep doing it and keep going with these good habits. So I will keep my fingers crossed for you out there.

Speaker 1: 26:09

My friend, send me a DM on Instagram at Bridget Walton, if you have any questions, if you want any clarification. Let me know how this works for you. I would love to hear from you, but I think we'll wrap it up for there today. I hope that you found this episode to be helpful. If you did, then would you be so kind as to send it to a friend? Send it to a sister, somebody who you know could benefit from this information. Friend, send it to a sister, somebody who you know could benefit from this information. Honestly, if you're up for it too, I would really appreciate if you rated and reviewed the podcast on whatever platform you're listening on. So, all of that being said, thank you again. I will see you on the next one, but until then, be well, my friend.